Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Jim Hill Media have a new piece about Pixar's big summer release, Ratatouille and how - already, almost seven months before it's release - it is being pegged as something of a sad financial failure. The article also sheds some light ont he true success of Cars, often labelled a flop when it was anything but.

This summer is indeed crammed with big movies, and any number of them are going to suffer, get lost in the rush, fall behind the few that will shine brightest. Is Ratatouille really destined to be one of the lesser performers?

I would like to think not. I would like to think word of mouth for Ratatouille - which should be phenomenal - will create a Must See Movie, a genuine Event Film, launching another box office jubilee like that which surrounded Finding Nemo's almost hysterical reception a few years ago. Word of mouth should be the most convincing marketing a film can be blessed with (though sometimes unjustly of course, as it often proves to be only an after echo of contrived marketing campaigns and no more an honest reaction to the quality of the film than a Larry King pull quote on the poster).

The bottom line of course, shouldn't be the... er... bottom line. I have no doubt that Brad Bird and the Pixar army will make Ratatouille into something extraordinary, and any plausible order of failure will still result in enough revenue to keep the studio on track.